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People who don't know much about metabolism think that weight is a simple linear function of calories ingested vs calories expended. Really it's not that simple. The body strives to maintain weight by burning more or fewer calories, for example. So to lose weight in the long term you need to recalibrate the body's set point.

What's great about Chow's work is that he's boiled some of the complexity down into a calculator that gives simple outputs. If you know someone trying to lose weight, get them to check out the simulator: http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/

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